Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(41)

"It's nothing." Searching for a change of subject, Kylie tossed out, "How was work today?"

"It was strange," her mom said. "I got a new client."

"Why is that strange?" Kylie asked. Her mom worked in advertising and she was always getting new clients.

"He's strange."

"Strange in what way?" Kylie asked, glad the subject had taken a turn.

"He seemed more interested in me than ... the campaign." Her mom giggled.

Kylie frowned. "Define 'interested.'"

"Oh, I don't know. It's just the way he acted," her mom said, as if she were trying to make light of the subject. "We're supposed to do lunch tomorrow and discuss his ideas for the special promotion on his new line of vitamins."

"Is it a work lunch or a ... date lunch?"

"Don't be silly," her mom said. "It's work."

"Are you sure?" Kylie asked. "I mean, if he seemed interested in you..."

"I think it's work," she said, no longer sounding so sure. "But ... if it were a date lunch, how would you feel about it?"

Kylie took a deep breath. An image of her stepfather filled her head. She recalled him sitting on the edge of her bed only a few weeks ago, crying when he told Kylie he'd made a terrible mistake. She knew he wanted to reconcile with her mom, and while Kylie wasn't sure he deserved a second chance after cheating on her, she couldn't deny wanting at least one thing in her world to go back to the way it had been.

"You're not answering," her mom said.

Kylie swallowed a big lump of indecision and stared down at the image of her mom and Daniel. Was it fair of her to want her mom to forgive her stepfather just to bring a sense of normalcy back into Kylie's life, especially when she sensed the man her mom really loved was dead? The question bounced around her head, and Kylie decided to be honest.

"That's because I don't know what to say. I guess part of me was thinking you and Dad might work things out. Don't you love him anymore? Or did you ever really love him?"

It was her mom's time to get quiet. "I loved him. I probably still love him," she finally confessed. "But I'm not sure I can forgive him. Or trust him. And ever since we talked about Daniel, I just ... I'm not sure that marrying Tom wasn't a mistake. And if that's true, then us getting back together would also be a mistake. But I shouldn't be talking to you about this, Kylie."

"Why not?"

"Because, my darling, you shouldn't have to worry about this."

"You're my mom. I have a right to worry." And Kylie realized she did worry about her mom being alone and being lonely. But did that mean she wanted her mom to start dating? To completely rule out getting back with the man Kylie had loved and considered her real dad all her life?

"No," her mom said. "You've got that backwards. Moms have a right to worry about their kids, not the other way around."

"Then we'll just have to agree to disagree," Kylie said.

"You are way too stubborn, you know that?"

"And I wonder where I got it from," Kylie answered with a chuckle. Kylie's mom's phone beeped with an incoming call. "I'll let you go," Kylie said. "But Mom..."

"Yes?"

"Enjoy the lunch. Just be careful. And don't go falling in love or anything. Oh, and no kissing on the first date. That was your rule, remember?"

Her mom chuckled. "I'm sure it's just a business lunch. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

When Kylie hung up she heard a tap at her window. She looked over, expecting Lucas, but instead the blue jay perched on her windowsill. It flapped its wings, hovered right outside her window for a second, and then flew away.

Great. Now she was being stalked by the blue jay she'd brought back to life. What did that mean?

* * *

The melancholy from the ghost and the mixed feelings about her mom-as well as the possibility that she'd given a piece of her soul to the blue jay-hadn't completely faded an hour later when Miranda and Della stormed into her room.

"Get ready," Della said.

"Ready for what?" Kylie asked, lying on the bed, still hugging her pillow and staring holes into the ceiling.

"Burnett agreed to let us have a party tonight," Miranda said. "This is our chance to work on our pact. Steve will be there, so will Lucas and even Perry. We're ordering pizza and playing music. Maybe even dancing. I think I'll wear the new jeans I bought last weekend."

"You didn't tell us you got to go shopping," Della said.

"Yeah, and I also got this brand-new jeans skirt." Miranda looked at Della. "It would look fabulous on you. Why don't you borrow it?"

"Really?" Della said. "You'd loan me your new skirt?"

"Of course. I like you most of the time," Miranda said, and nudged her with her elbow.

Kylie's lips were poised to say, "You two go without me," but she spotted a hint of excitement in Della's eyes. Kylie remembered that since the vamp was assigned as her shadow, if she didn't go, Della didn't go, either.

So Kylie stood up and went to her closet. "I say we get all dressed up and impress the socks off those guys."